Autobiography
An inspiring tale of one man’s courage and determination...
Easter
1963. The end of the school holidays are approaching, but
instead of returning to school, Billy “Scratch” Hitchen ran away to sea - he
was just fourteen years old. Before the age of nineteen, he had sailed around
the world five times.
“Scratch”
Salcombe Boy takes us on a wild ride around the world: from the
mountainous seas off Cape Horn, to the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, from the
most southerly tip of New Zealand to the North Atlantic and Canada, from oil
drilling and exploration in Argentina to the construction of oil pipelines in
the swamps and jungles of West Africa. In 1973, Scratch finally returned home
to Salcombe in South Devon and went on to spend the next three decades fishing
in every sea area, from Dover to Rockall.
As Scratch tells the story, the reader will be drawn to the
charismatic writing and inspired by the sheer determination of the man who
overcame many obstacles, not least his lifelong struggles with dyslexia.
Without reference to any written document or diary, the story he tells is
written from the heart and carried in his soul. Readers who delight in sea
exploration and travel, as well as vivid, well-written autobiographies, will enjoy
this fascinating life well lived.
Here's what readers have to say about this book....
I thought that I knew quite a bit about Scratch having bought his crabs for many years but after reading his incredible book I realised how much more there is to know. Honest, well written and utterly captivating this is an inspiration and just shows how full life can be if you put in the effort. A must read.
This is an extraordinary tale of survival on the high seas, told with humour and relish. Charismatic captain Bill Hitchen launches his readers on a tidal wave of anecdote and adventure. After running away to sea at 14, steering the Queen Mary into New York at 19 and braving stinking jungles in search of oil, he skippers his own fishing boat around Britain's stormiest coasts. Readers will be on the edge of their seats as one by one, his nine lives vanish into the watery depths.
